Friday, January 22, 2010

Going shawl-out for 2010!

Waaa-waaa. Ravelry has been blowing my mind recently with a lot of crazy awesome features. The newest one? The Help for Haiti patterns: buy a pattern from a favorite designer and at least 50% of the proceeds will go to relief efforts for Haiti. Yo: I'm not talking about crocheted toilet paper holders here (see how I vilify what I don't understand?), I'm talking about patterns that are already in your queue. I nabbed several, including KK's Dorothea beanie, M-H's Simple Things, Daybreak, Wandering the Moor and two shawls I've been dying to make: Clothilde and Milkweed. So check it out, the designers have been so generous to offer their proceeds.

While on the topic of Ravelry, I am excited to have joined an insane group on there called 10 Shawls in 2010. Yup, you guessed it: you knit 10 shawls in one calendar year. I'm kind of excited about it because I have recently rediscovered the awesome power that is the shawl, and it is this: the key to wearing them and not looking like a society for creative anachronism member or historical reenactor is to wear them as bunched up as scarves. Voilà. Such an earth shattering observation! What's next? Leggings as pants? NO.

33 comments:

I've been lurking for a month or so and just have to leap up to say, yo! you are so right about bunching up those shawls!!

One that looks particulary fabulous that way is Ysolda's Damson. And right now (well, at least as of yesterday) she's giving 80% to Haiti relief. How could you go wrong.

I'm not a speed knitter, and I finished one in three days right before Christmas. Gave it as a gift, but cleverly enough, to someone who lives at my house. It goes beautifully with my winter coat as a neck scarf.

What pattern is the one in your photo? It's pretty. I have been wanting to knit/have a shawl but feared them for many reasons. As I near my birthday, I am loathe to look even older than my age. Bunching a shawl up? I want to see a photo, please.

I am ALL ABOUT the bandito shawl - especially littler ones that give you that just-right extra layer of warmth. I have two Ishbels (yellow and blue) and I wear one at work virtually every day. I'm eager to make Milkweed as well, and I really like Aestlight, Damson, Springtime Bandit and Multnomah. And the other, like, FIFTY shawls in my queue.

Yes, the bunching does work to help us look younger and hipper with our shawls. However, I will admit to wearing mine like Tasha Tudor in a cold restaurant from time to time-instantly aging myself by 30 or so years.

Oh Lordy, did I really need to read this? Must. Resist. Temptation. I will not try to make 10 Shawls in 2010! I won't! Mark my words! (and then make me eat them when I decide, oh, in about October, to try to make it happen!)

Mara is totally on my list - I have some handspun marked for that. And I have some Sundara that's been patiently waiting to become a Shetland Triangle for about a year (I finally photocopied the pattern so that I can return the library book that I've had out for all that time). And I am SO smitten with Wandering the Moor, maybe also in handspun.

And of course your Saroyan has made me want to cast on for that, too, and pronto!

Mara is definitely high on my list as well! I think I realized something this summer - that I am exponentially more likely to finish a shawl the less purling there is involved. Those long purl rows just bore me to tears - hence my interest in Mara. I do love that summer shawlette you linked to - the purling obviously didn't bore me too bad since it's at such a large gauge, and I love the shaping over the shoulders that keeps it so nicely in place. I wore it at my wedding but I've only really had one other occasion to put it on since then, which is a shame. It does seem like a dress-up shawl only.

Besides those, I've had daybreak in my queue for a while - Stephen West has some really lovely shawl patterns. The textured shawl recipe also looks so wonderfully drapey and cozy. And as much as I'm not that into knitting lace I really, really want Jared Flood's Willoughby. I love how antiquey it looks, and the combination of laceyness and texture isn't something you see a whole lot. Finally, the other garter-based shawl on my list is Multnomah.

Hey, how about sharing. Apparently someone put a truth serum in my coffee this morning.

I'm personally still determined to make Swallowtail. Someday. I've actually knitted half of it twice before deciding I didn't like the yarn. So maybe third time's the charm. I won't be joining your efforts (!), but I will be watching from the sidelines. ;)

I have three shawls on the needles at the moment,Little Colonnade, Springtime Bandit (my second, love this pattern), and Forest Canopy.My all time favorite pattern is the Shetland Triangle. Probably my second favorite is Ishbel. I also have many in my favs, such as Milkweed, Damson, Colonnade, Mara, and Luminaria.I am definitely signing up for the Rav group. Thanks for all your inspiration! I am going to try the only 3 projects at a time to see if I can get some things finished. We'll see how it goes!

Anything from Nancy Bush's Estonian Lace book is my choice. I've already knit two projects from that book and am working on a third. Also, the Aeolian and Laminaria shawls from Knitty are must knits on my list.

I made a smaller shawl a couple years ago and it is wonderful as a scarf. I tend to wear mine around the house rather than out and about. My favorite that I really, really need to just DO is the Northern Lights shawl. I love the stripes.

My thoughts on shawls are pretty much exactly your thoughts on shawls. The bunched up scarf look makes all the difference. Last Friday I just bought Damson and Herbivore through the Help for Haiti feature. Such an awesome movement.